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Pertain comes to English via Anglo-French from the Latin verb pertinēre, meaning "to reach to" or "to belong." Pertinēre, in turn, was formed by combining the prefix per- (meaning "through") and tenēre ("to hold"). Tenēre is a popular root in English words and often manifests with the -tain spelling that can be seen in pertain. Other descendants include abstain, contain, detain, maintain, obtain, retain, and sustain, to name a few of the more common ones. Not every -tain word has tenēre in its ancestry, though. Ascertain, attain, and certain are certainly exceptions. And a few tenēre words don't follow the usual pattern: tenacious and tenure are two.
Examples of pertain in a Sentence
Christie Thompson, NPR, 17 June 2026
There are more important things pertaining to the party to worry about than that.
—Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 14 June 2026
Mickelson was one of the most popular players on the PGA Tour before his controversial move to LIV and comments about his Saudi backers, and his career survived some unsavory headlines, several of which pertained to gambling.
—Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2026
Venus in Cancer will approach a square to Chiron in Aries, adding a hard dose of emotional sensitivity or feelings of rejection, specifically when pertaining to relationships, finances and matters of the heart.
—Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 12 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for pertain
Cite this Entry
“Pertain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pertain. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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pertain
verb
